DVD Review: Anchorman 2 features lots of bonus material

Courtesy of Gemma LaMana

(Left to right) David Koechner is Champ Kind, Paul Rudd is Brian Fantana, Will Ferrell is Ron Burgundy and Steve Carell is Brick Tamland in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, to be released by Paramount Pictures.

(Left to right) David Koechner is Champ Kind, Paul Rudd is Brian Fantana, Will Ferrell is Ron Burgundy and Steve Carell is Brick Tamland in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, to be released by Paramount Pictures. (Courtesy of Gemma LaMana)

This combo pack of two Blu-rays and one DVD may have the most extras of any new major studio release. (There might be some titles that had this much on their second or third home video release in a “Gold” or “Collector's” or “Super Duper Special” edition.) If you find Will Ferrell funny enough that you want to watch all of it, you'll be exhausted long before the material is.

The DVD included has only the PG-13 theatrical release (one hour, 58 minutes). The first of the Blu-ray discs lets you choose between that version and the unrated “Extended Cut” (2:03). The second Blu-ray disc has an R-rated “Super-Sized” alternate version (2:23). The cover claims “763 new jokes,” which sounds like hyperbole until you realize that the “Super-Sized” cut not only has added scenes, but actually replaces all the original scenes (as far as I could tell) with alternate takes. For most films, this would be a pointless exercise, but the cast improvises or at least reads a lot of utterly different material — e.g., different versions of Ferrell's exclamations of surprise (“Great ----'s ----!”).

Two hours and 23 minutes is, in general, way too long for a goofy comedy, and the filmmakers most often (not always) picked the best material for the theatrical version (which was already a tad long for this sort of film). But even these throwaways are funny, as are another hour and a half of “Extended Alternate Scenes.” (There may be overlap with the “Super-Sized” stuff, but who can keep track?)

In addition, there are other deleted scenes; a commentary (on the Unrated version only) with Ferrell, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, producer Judd Apatow, and director Adam McKay; more deleted and extended scenes; three audition tapes (two from casting sessions for the first film); about an hour of “behind the scenes” footage; selected bits from the first table read; and frankly so much altogether that it gets boring to list them.

It's hard to imagine what could be added for a more “special” edition; kudos to Paramount and the filmmakers for jamming it all into this one release.